11.30.2010

Fair Enough: Miami 2010

And I'm off. .
A big thank you, gracias, merci, obrigada, arrigato, grazie and much obliged to everyone who sent in donations via Pal Pal or check to send me to Miami. I am deeply appreciative of your generosity. (Anyone else who's so inclined, the Pay Pal button is just to your right.) I'm taking my assignment seriously, which is to see as much as I can and report on it intelligently and in as timely a manner as possible. I will be avoiding the parties, the fashion and the "in" crowd in favor of the art, basic black, editing images and sleep. While I don't expect to produce any big posts while I'm there, I have set aside two weeks upon my return to deliver a post a day. ..
This is will be my sixth year of covering the Miami art fairs. I try to live up to my blog’s disclaimer, Guaranteed Biased, Myopic, Incomplete and Journalistically Suspect, though I do stretch beyond my personal tastes for the reports I'll be posting throughout the month. And truth be told, I try to be journalistically responsible. While I don’t love all the work in all the fairs, I’m aware that artists and dealers have worked long hours to get their stuff up on a wall or in a booth, and they have spent a lot of money in the process, so if I don’t dig the art or the venue I’m judicious in my negative comments. Exception: If you’re a movie star using your celebrity to sell derivitave and poorly executed paintings, you are not getting over. (That means you, Sylvester Stallone, and your pimperiffic gallery, too.)

I have five days, starting with the previews and openings on Wednesday evening and working my way down my itinerary through the last of the events on Sunday afternoon. Thanks toBoyd Level for providing its fab guide to the fairs again this year. I've identified the venues I know to offer free entry, just in case you're in the area and plan to attend. Here’s what’s on my itinerary (Art-Collecting.com provides a good annotated listing):.Miami BeachArt Basel Miami Beach (artists: it’s $20 after 4:00 pm)
. Will I attend the morning Conversations? We'll seeAqua Art (free w/ pass)The Oceanfront (part of ABMB located on the beach; free)Ink (free)NADA (free) Verge

Wynwood
Three causeways connect Miami Beach to the design area known as Wynwood in Miami proper. The free shuttles are not not dependable and when they do arrive, theyre often full, so I will be cabbing it to and fro. The fairs I plan to visit: Art MiamiPulseSeven (free)
. I'll also be attending Jen Dalton & William Powhida's #Rank sessions, including one on age and gender with Joanie San ChiricoScopeRed DotFountain

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Private Collections

Work does not go over the sofa in these warehouses turned into museum-like settings.

Because there's only so much time, only so much energy, and only so many cerebral bytes to process the visual information (my limit: three fairs a day), I'm not putting these on my itinerary. But you never know . . .

﻿Mostly I travel alone, because I can’t process all the images and information if I’m engaged in conversation. But here’s where I plan to get social:

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﻿﻿Preview Party at Aqua Art ﻿﻿
. Wednesday evening, 8:00—11:00 pm
. Collins at 15th Street
. I’ll be there about 9:00 p.m., hanging out in Room 106, the Conrad Wilde Gallery, where I will have paintings on view like the one at left

. Thursday evening, 5:00—7:00 pm, in the courtyard of Aqua Art
. Look for the signs, like the logo below, to find us

. This year we’re skipping the panel discussion in favor of a more relaxed get-together. Come on over to say Hi and have a drink. Aqua is providing the beverages
. Use the free pass to get in

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The Boston Reception hosted by the DeCordova Museum
This is the second annual installment of an event hosted by the museum for artists, collectors, curators, gallerists and museum staff in the Boston area. I missed it last year, but as an artist who shows and teaches in Boston, I'm going to go meet my peeps. If you are from the Boston area (and I'm guessing that would include much of New England), it's on Saturday evening, 6:00-8:00 p.m., at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, Colllins at 16th Street, Third Floor Terrace..

The donation is a small price to pay for such wonderful coverage. The images and writings you bring to these pages (all times of the year) are priceless for this non-traveling art lover. Thank you. Have fun and be inspired.

MIAMI!

Links

Second Edition Published

“Silk Road: Excerpts From an Ongoing Series” has been published to mark 10 years of my involvement with one series, whose aesthetic I describe as “lush minimalism.” You can view the 56-page book in its entirety online at no charge. Click pic to view

Artists Choose Artists

Artist Annell Livingston writes about my work for the new blog, Vasari 21, founded by Ann Landi. Click pic for info and a link

Recent Solo: "Silk Road"

"Joanne Mattera: The Silk Road Series" was at Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Larchmont, New York, May-July. Some paintings are available for viewing at the gallery. Click pic for gallery info

Recent: August Geometry

More than just a summer show. Au-gust: adjective, respected and impressive. At the Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta. Click pic for info

Recent

I'm having a great year of exhibitions and catalogs. This volume, published by Space Gallery, Denver, on the occasion of the exhibition, "Pattern: Geometric|Organic," is viewable online and available for sale as a hard-copy volume. Click pic for exhibition info and a link to the catalog. That's my "Chromatic Geometry 29" on the cover

James Panero Reviews Doppler Shift

Writing in The New Criterion, Panero calls Doppler Shift "a smart group show, " noting the work of "artists who interest me most these days." There's a nice shout out to Mary Birmingham, the curator; to Mel Prest, who originated the concept; and to me, among others. Click pic for the review

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"Textility," curated by Mary Birmingham and myself for the Visual Art Center of New Jersey, Summit (where Birmingham is the chief curator), looked at contemporary painting, sculpture and work on paper in which textile elements were referenced or employed. The exhibition is over, but you can see this exhibition on line. Click on the links below to read and see more.

Review of Textility

Click pic to access review. Then click on page images to enlarge them for legibility

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About Me

THE FIRST CONTEMPORARY BOOK ON ENCAUSTIC PAINTING. AND STILL THE BEST

My book, The Art of Encaustic Painting, was published by Watson-Guptill in 2001. It's the first commercially published book on contemporary encaustic. There are three sections: history, with images of the famed Greco-Egyptian Fayum portraits; a gallery of contemporary painting and sculpture (including the work of Jasper Johns, Kay WalkingStick, Heather Hutchison, Johannes Girardoni and myself), and technical information, including an interview with Michael Duffy, a conservator at the Museum of Modern Art.